Back to Normal: A Hinny One-Shot
by Gyotso
Summary: The war is over and Harry's exhausted. But he's got one more battle to test himself... The battle of love. (Its a One-Shot of Harry and Ginny hours after the final battle. Plus a tad bit of Draco and Harry forgiveness)


**I'm sorry, I'm horrible with writing Harry Potter, I'm too American. I tried.**

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Harry walked down the steps from the headmaster's office. Knowing that as much as he craved peace, it wasn't to come yet. While it was true, now that he had ended the battle he had all the time in the world... but even more than peace, he craved the company of one. One girl that had made him feel almost normal... He knew deep down, that peace wouldn't come until their lips met once again.

The Elder Wand was in his back pocket, his Phoenix wand gripped tight in his hand.

He knew, that after everything that had happened, he would never be the same. He may wake up in the night because of someone walking around on leaves, or he'd subconsciously pull his wand on someone when they enter the room. It wouldn't go away, not yet.

That was what almost got Draco Malfoy killed.

Harry turned the corner and Malfoy called him by name,

"Potter." He was running to catch up to him.

Harry instinctively pointed his wand at his chest.

"Potter, I'm not here to fight. I don't even have a wand." Draco raised his arms in surrender.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry asked, without thinking, he lowered his wand.

"I...uh...well... wanted to say..." Draco was having a hard time getting it out of his system.

"Apology accepted." Harry said.

"You know... I wouldn't have...you know... killed him."

"I saw it, you were lowering your wand."

Draco didn't say anything else.

Remembering their first conversation, a lifetime ago, Harry extended his hand in friendship.

Draco took it with thanks.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find Ginny."

"Do you want help with that?" Draco asked, nervously.

"I'll find her. I have a feeling she'll be looking for me."

Draco nodded and walked away.

Harry wondered why he had chosen now to be remorseful. Maybe it was in the heat of things, maybe he was just confused. But that didn't matter. He had to find Ginny Weasley and tell her how he felt.

He walked forever, even popping his head into the Great Hall where almost everyone was still resting, but the youngest Weasley was no where to be found.

He walked up the long staircases and found the Gryffindor common room held no answers.

He knocked on the girls dormitory, but Ginny wasn't in there either.

He walked back down the stairs and, without thinking, had ended up in Myrtle's Bathroom.

"Hello Harry." Moaning Myrtle said, from behind the door.

"Hi Myrtle." He was about to walk out, when he had another thought. "Have you seen Ginny lately?"

"The Weasley girl?"

"That's the one."

"She went down the sink a few minutes ago. Something about being sentimental."

"Sentimental?" He asked himself. He walked towards the sink and touched it. _She went down the sink?_

He touched something that was plated on the sink.

Then he remembered.

He looked inside himself, called upon the Parseltongue... but nothing came out.

"Open."

The Chamber did not heed his command.

"Open." He tried again.

He wondered why the Parseltongue inside him had stopped working, why he could no longer order the chamber to open as he once could.

But then he remembered the flash of green light. Voldemort, and all traces of him were gone. Looks like the powers that Voldemort accidentally gave him, were gone.

"You won't get in that way." A low, grumbly voice warned him.

Harry turned to see a very grumpy ghost behind him.

"Sir." Harry said, respectfully. "Can you help me get into the Chamber?"

"Not sure why you'd want to go in there Potter. Nothing but evil."

"Forgive me sir, but aren't you a Slytherin?"

"Not all Slytherins are like that boy. Slytherins are cunning and powerful, with the drive to do great things. Great doesn't mean good, great means evil too."

He thought of Peter Pettigrew, the cowardly Gryffindor; Gilderoy Lockhart, the useless Ravenclaw; and Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff that was anything but average. The Baron was right, the house wasn't always who you were.

"I suppose you're right sir. I'm sorry."

"The war made you soft. I can respect that, Potter."

"Can you help me sir?" Harry asked, he desperately wanted out of the dialogue.

Strange hissing sounds came from the Baron.

The Chamber opened with all its magnificence.

"Thank you sir."

"Quit calling me sir." The Baron ordered. "I'm only 900 years older than you."

The Baron floated away.

Harry never thought that he'd ever reenter the Chamber, or make friends with the Bloody Baron. But he was about too, and he had.

He jumped down into the hole.

He fell forever until he reached the stony cave.

He walked on, remembering Lockhart's memory charm backfiring, the giant snake skin, the boulders that separated him from Ron.

Then he reached the final door that would lead him to the exact place he knew Ginny would be.

He did his best to imitate the Bloody Baron, and after the 3rd attempt, he succeeded in opening the door.

He walked down the long path, recognizing the skeleton, rotting in the far end of the chamber.

A girl, perhaps 17 years old, with red hair was laying on the floor, much more awake than she had been 5 years ago.

"Kind of odd to be nostalgic for something like this." Harry said, alerting Ginny to his presence.

She shot up to a sitting position.

"How'd you find me here?" Ginny asked.

"A bit of luck I suppose." He walked up and sat next to her.

"So I guess it's all over now." Ginny said.

"Well, its not like everything's going back to normal."

"But You Know Who's gone... right?" Ginny asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"He's dead... for sure this time. But I'm talking more about the memories."

"Yeah...I guess we'll never forget them." Ginny said sadly.

"Look at the bright side." Harry suggested.

She looked expectantly at him.

"Ron and Hermione are together now." Harry said stupidly.

"Kind of figured that one out for myself thanks." Ginny said.

They were silent for a few moments.

"You were right you know?"

Harry hadn't expected her to say that.

"About?" Harry asked, wondering if she was talking about how he ended their relationship.

"What you said about facing this stuff in real life... its nothing like school."

Just the way she said it, he knew why she was down here. She wasn't looking for a place to be sentimental, she wanted a place to hide. A place only she knew the way.

But secretly she wanted to be found, otherwise she'd have gone into the Room of Requirement, or somewhere off the grounds.

"Sirius told me something once." He said dryly. " He said, 'the ones we love never truly leave us... and you can always find them in your heart."

"Is that why you think I'm down here? Because I want to cry about Fred and not be seen?"

"That is why you're down here."

She didn't answer.

"You know, I didn't stop thinking about you. Not once while you were gone... at night I would lie awake and wonder what you guys were doing, where you were going..."

"Well it seems we've got some time on our hands to get back to the school." Harry said getting up and offering his hand to Ginny.

She took it with a small smile on her face.

"It all started at Tottenham Court Road..."


End file.
